| For a good while, I have been uneasy about the removal of Civil War monuments of those who fought for the South, or the removal of things (schools, streets, etc.) named after southern Civil War figures.And yet I struggled to explain to myself just why that bothered me. After all, these guys were fighting in support, to some degree or another, for slavery. It might have been about more than slavery, but slavery was the underlying and overarching issue of the matter. And to hear some tell it, us southerners honoring our Civil War dead is akin to Germans honoring the Nazis who died in WWII.But then it came to me, and I began to be able to better articulate why I feel the way I do.1) North or South, they were all AMERICANS. North or South, there was tremendous courage and deep personal sacrifice manifested by so many. 2) If fighting for slavery or owning slaves is the way we will determine just who is honored, we wind up removing George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, on and on, from any respectable mention in polite society. ALL are flawed. But flawed people, along with their mistakes, have also done great and noble things. MLK, Jr. was a serial adulterer, yet most people recognize that despite those flaws, he was of noble service to his race and to the betterment of our country as a whole. If we are only going to use perfect people for the names of facilities, streets, etc., and only perfect people for our currency, then every street, school, and bill is going to be named Jesus. Jesus St. Jesus Ave. Jesus Blvd. Jesus Lane. Jesus Circle. Jesus Elementary School. Jesus High School. Jesus School of Business. Etc.We have to realize that while certain flaws do indeed disqualify someone for public honors, having flaws, having made poor decisions, etc., shouldn't be the end-all of the matter. The whole life has to be weighed in the balance. 3) Lastly, context, context, context. If someone TODAY was in support of slavery, we would rightly decry them. But we have to realize that in the mid-1800s, the slavery issue was not a settled moral issue (and the Civil War was the bloody part of this moral battle regarding slavery). In the context of those times, it was not immediately considered evil to have slaves. Yes, abolitionists thought it was evil--and they were right--but they were obviously well ahead of the curve. Today, we rightly decry such things. But back then, the notion of slavery was not held in disregard by all. Consider that if the Lord tarries for another century, it is entirely likely that those of us who are against gay marriage today, will be looked upon as morally stunted, even evil. And yet in TODAY'S context, this is an issue that continues to be debated. It is not the settled moral standard at this point. To the future, we may look as bad as slave owners look to us. For that matter, there may very well be schools, streets, and the such that are renamed because people will recall that this or that person was--gasp!--against gay marriage.So, yes, I honor our southern heroes. Not because they were right on the issues, but because many of them were otherwise wonderful, decent people who just happened to be around when these matters came to a head. And because, according to the light that they had, they made the best decision they likely knew how to make--and I speak this about both sides, north and south. |